A Beautiful Thing Called A Heart
by Shadowsofhope
Summary: When Roy's death turns out to be more than an accident, Richard will go through anything to avenge his death...but he didn't count on falling for his bestfriends girl. A.U. RichxKori in the end. Read and Review! even though it sucks. Rated T for safety.


**Okay..So I'm not dead. This is just something that's been hanging around on my computer that I wrote eons ago. I personally think it could be SOOO much better, but I dont have the time to come back and redo it. For everyone who is watching and waiting for Sanity to update, It will finally have its second chapter up sometime this week. I finally have the rest of it mapped out and outlined :) GO ME!!!! Well anyway, have fun reading this. :P**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans or any of its characters. **

**Review People!! Even if it is a CRITICAL flame. Not a stupid "I hate it" kind...they dont help me in improving. Much thanks for anyone who bothered to open this!!! Have a cookie afterwards!**

* * *

**A Beautiful Thing Called a Heart**

The summer rain poured heavily down on Richard's sports car windshield as he waited to leave Jump City High School parking lot. The last day of this senior year and he and his friend Roy waited for a spot to move into the long line of cars.Roy lit himself a cigarette and grabbed his bottle of Pepsi from the center console, only to have the lit cigarette yanked from his hand. Richard threw the lit butt out the window and gave him a death glare. Roy sunk back into his seat as the two of them sped off towards the park to meet Roy's girlfriend.

"Rich, you may want to slow down up here on the bridge; you know there's that-"

The black Mercedes flew off the ground a couple of feet as it hit the bright yellow speed bump, knocking the pepsi bottle out of Roy's hands and beneath the pedals.

"Roy-"

Richard reached down, keeping a grip on the wheel, as he started over the bridge. He fumbled around the brake pedal until Headlights flashed into Richards eyes, blinding him. Roy began to scream at Richard to turn the car away from the other lane. Attempting the brakes, Richard found that the pepsi bottle had lodged its way underneath of the pedal, not budging or letting him slow down.

"Richard!" Roy braced himself as the other car slammed into the front of their car, smashing the front in and sending them backwards over the railing. Roy reached for the dashboard where the airbag had deflated and seconds later the car hit the water with a thunderous boom. The windows in the back shattered letting the cold lake water in the leather-seated car up to the driver and passenger seats.Richard fought with his seatbelt as the water rose around his neck. Looking over at Roy, he seemed to be unconscious, hitting his head off the dash board on the way down. He reached over to Roy and undid his seat belt, taking him out of the seat. The last remaining air around them was going quick and Richard fought to get Roy out of the car. With one last gasp of air he went under to get through the door, Roy was now out of the car, face towards the sky on a piece of the railing that had fell down with them. He swam to the surface, only to be yanked back by the ankle. The seat belt became tangled around his leg. Richard fought with the belt with his numb fingers and burning lungs. His last breath of oxygen left him and the icy water filled the empty gap.   
The distinct feeling of his aching lungs came back to Richard, along with the wind blowing slightly against his cold wet body. He rolled onto his side, spitting out the water onto the sandy lake shore. The cold rain hitting his face hard, he strained to open his eyes to his rescuer. A young girl of about his age sat beside him, her auburn hair drenched and her face tear stained. His eyes closed again against his will and the young girl in the rain faded away.  
The smell of bleach and cheap liquid soap stung Richard's nose and soon he opened his eyes to the bright lights above him. The heart monitor next to him grew louder as his senses returned.An older nurse came into his room, checked his vitals and spread the rumor around of his waking up. His head was in a daze and he barely noticed the young red head come in.

"Hey, how ya' feelin'?" she spoke gently as if talking to a toddler and pulled up a chair to his bedside.

"Okay, I guess…but who are you?" she seemed to flinch a bit at his question and her already tear stained face turned deeper as her eyes began to tear up. "I-I'm Kori. Roy's girlfriend or ex-girlfriend I should say." The tears began to fall down her face and Richard couldn't help but feel guilty. Still she continued, "Th-They say that the accident caused your head to get shook up a little. You probably don't even remember who Roy is-was."  
He looked away from her face, not wanting her to continue. "You don't do you?" she spoke, eyes still on him. Finally Richard shook his head no. Their conversation ended but she still sat by his bed, playing with the sheets hanging off the side of it.

"Who was he?" The redhead jolted her head back up to look at him. "He was your best friend. You tried to save him from the car, but the impact of the car hitting the water snapped his neck. He was dead before the car filled with water, or at least that's what the Coroner said." The fountain of tears had started up again and he mentally smacked himself for asking that when she was in tears moments before.

"Rich, I'm going to go now. I'll be in tomorrow to take you home." He looked at her with a blank stare. She sighed and with a wave of the hand she left the room, almost toppling over the older nurse as she came back in. Richard turned to talk to the nurse. "So…my name is Richard?"

The rest of his stay at the hospital that evening was very exciting for him, especially counting the dots on the speckle-tiled ceiling and falling asleep from his pain medication. Kori walked into Richards hospital room to find him passed out with his mouth slightly open and shimmering from the little bit of drool. She smiled and thought of the possible blackmail for when his memory came back; or at least if his memory would come back. She walked over to this bedside and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Richard…this is such a lousy way of being there when I need you most." Her hand reached up to knock away the raven locks over his closed eyes. She stood there thinking for a moment then gently shook his shoulder to wake him.Richard opened his ocean blue eyes to see Kori standing over him. He quickly swiped away the drool and turned a light shade of pink from the embarrassment.

"Hey, you're gonna come over my place for a little bit until your parents come home tomorrow. I've got all your stuff with me in the car already. We just have to wheel ya outta here." Kori motioned over to the wheel chair in the corner then brought it over to him and with the nurse helped him into it. Kori walked besides him through the halls with the nurse pushing him out to the car. Richard had fallen asleep next to her in the passenger seat, his head resting on the window. The little cuts and bruises were now more evident out of the hospital. They scattered over his face and arms, each one a reminder of Roy's last moments in Kori's eyes.   
They reached her small townhouse in Odenton, and spent most of their time in the living room taking down the pictures of Roy and Kori, for they were a constant reminder of what once was. Or at least that's what Kori had told Richard. They continued to pack away the pictures and little trinkets until night had fell over the home. Kori had "passed out" on the chair as Richard wandered around the dark house. His strength mostly returned he didn't need to remain in the wheel chair, but instead steadied himself along the wall.  
Down the hall was Roys temporary room, and Richard wanted-needed to see it. He stumbled around in the dark until he found the right door and opened it. Inside everything was left untouched. His bed was still a mess and clothes scattered over the floor. He walked into the room and tripped over a small box, sending him to the floor. He paused, breathing heavily, expecting to hear footsteps from the living room, but none came. He looked over at the small locked box. He picked it up and fumbled with it in his hands, it had something in it, but only one item. Hearing a few creaks in the floor coming from the other room, he set the box back down and crawled back out into the other room. Kori stirred a little bit in her chair, moving the recliner slightly against the floor boards. Richard curled up on the leather couch and fell asleep.  
Richard woke up to a blanket placed on him. Kori had left the room already, leaving him alone in the plain walled room to his own devices, which weren't many. He slid out of the couch with the blanket draped over his shoulders and walked around the house in search of Kori.

"I thought you'd never wake up" Her voice called from behind him. Richard turned to her standing behind him. "Dang… you look like crap. That or you were hit by a truck." She commented on the dark circles below his eyes and the hair stuck to his forehead. "You may want to fix at least the hair." She spun around on the wood floor in her fluffy pink slippers, leaving him in the hallway alone again.

Richard walked into the small bathroom, his head beginning to hurt. On the mirror was a post-it note from Kori stating his pain medication was inside the bathroom cupboard. He downed two of the oblong pills and went back out to the couch, skipping the shower and back to sleeping.  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_Roy's black Mercedes was parked in the Votech auto-body shop. It was late around and the shop should have been closed, but a single light shone above the car. A faceless person worked under the hood, his left arm tattooed with an iris. The snipping of wire was heard, and then the hood slammed shut, the light turned off as the man melted into the darkness. _

_The setting changed to Roy in the room in the apartment. In his hands was a small black box and next to him was the black metal box. Roy pulled his necklace off, a simple chain with a small silver key. He unlocked the box, placed the smaller one in, locked it again, and placed it onto the floor in front of him. Roy stayed there until Kori opened the door, waving car keys at him with a smile on her face, the room already changing into another place._

_Richard was now back on the bridge, watching himself swerve, attempting to miss the other car approaching him in his lane. He heard Roy's scream as the car went over. The other car parked along the other side, and the same faceless man stepped out of the red corvette.  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_ Richard woke up in a cold sweat. His mind swirled, trying to grasp the meaning of his dream. He walked into the small bathroom again, letting his gaze pass the bottle on the counter. He jumped into the shower, washing off the sweat from his dream. His 5 minute shower turned into that of a 20 minute shower and he stepped out to a cloud of steam. He watched his step over to the sink and looked up to the mirror, eyes widening at the scene before him. The two simple words, Brake Line were written on the mirror. He watched as an "S" began at the end of "Line". Richard backed up at the sight, his eyes never leaving the mirror. Until he tripped on one of his shoes behind him, sending him back down to the floor with a very loud thump.

"Rich? Are you okay?" Kori called from the other side of the door, the locked door. He looked once more at the now completely steamed mirror. "I'm fine, just showing the floor some love, that's all." He got up and dressed into his kaki pants and black muscle shirt, despite Kori's laughing from down the hall, then took one last look at the blank mirror and left the room.  
He watched Kori scurry about the living room, getting her stuff ready for her nighttime job. She walked about silently, all evidence of her little giggling fit few minutes prior, now gone. "Kori…Where did Roy and I get in an accident at again?" The Red head spun around towards him, her face troubled at the memory of the accident. All her work of keeping the memories at bay was now falling apart. "It was at the park. The one right down town, I could take you to it in a little bit, maybe tomorrow, if you like." She spoke warily, not sure of her own offer. "I'd like that…That is unless it's too much. I can always get someone else to take me or at least when my parents come back."

"It'll be fine. Hey, I'll see you later on tonight, I'll be home around 10-11 o'clock." With that she left, the stained oak door closing behind her.

Richard walked down the hall and stepped into Kori's room. He found the small box on the floor again, but instead set it down on the oak dresser by Roy's bed. For hours, Richard sifted through the room, trying to find that one necklace. After coming up with no results, Richard tried his best to put everything back in its original place so Kori wouldn't get upset over him being in Roy's room. He walked back out to the living room, sitting on the leather couch with his head in his hands. "What the hell is going on?" He asked himself as he remembered the dream and the mirror. The kitchen phone rang, bringing Richard out of his thoughts. He got up and walked out to the kitchen, finally picking it up on the second ring.

"Um…Kori?" The voice on the other phone was a guy.

"No, this is Richard, Kori's friend, who are you?"

"Richard?" The voice spoke his name venomously. "Richard, this is Xavier. Do me a favor and let Kori know that I called." With that he had hung up. Richard pulled out a stack of paper and wrote the note to Kori. He had a strange feeling when Xavier's voice had reached his ear. He wasn't sure of him, or at least with him being around Kori.  
Richard left the apartment for the light-rail station just south of the complex. He held the small piece of paper with the impound lot information he found in his bag of items. His stop had come and he left the small express train to walk alone for a few miles in the suburbs. Soon the barbed wire fences of the impound came into view. He walked up to the gates and was let in by the guards on duty. He walked past the rows of many cars, holding onto the paper with the cars license plate number and description. Finally he came across a black Mercedes with the matching license plate number. It was only half the size it should have been. The windshield was gone, along with most of the other windows. The roof was smashed in, and both the front and the end were smashed together, almost touching on the inside.

"You were in that?" the guard asked him pointing towards the totaled Mercedes. Richard nodded and walked forward numbly to where the engine was. He turned back to the guard asking for help with the smashed in hood. They had got the hood off, and both of them peered inside. "What are you looking for?" The guard asked, trying to sort through the tangled and twisted metal with his eyes. "Not looking for, found." He reached out and pulled the snapped brake lines. "They snapped in the accident. So what?"

"These aren't an accident, they're too clean. They were cut. Someone meant for this to happen." Richard spoke and turned to the other parts of the wreckage. The passenger side was worse than the driver's side, obviously where the other car had hit. He opened the door, only to have it fall off. He searched inside of the front part for any signs of a necklace or key, but none were found. He lay his hand on the dash board, where the passenger air bag went off, sending a chill down his back as he remembered bits of his dream. Richard moved his hand when he felt the indent. There on the dash was an engraving of part of a chain necklace link, with a tiny sliver of the metal chain. "You wouldn't happen to have a pen would you?" Richard asked the guard, needing to write the new pieces of information.  
Richard made his way to the apartment again, waiting for Kori to come home. His heart wouldn't stop racing as he thought of everything going through his mind. 'It wouldn't be good to tell her it was a murder. I couldn't stand to watch her cry again or get upset. Uggh, why did I have to live?' He kept repeating that question in his head over and over again, until his medication finally stepped in and put him into a dream-less sleep.  
Kori stepped into her apartment, finding Richard on the couch fast asleep. She set her purse down on the end of the leather sofa and walked over to his side. "You like to sleep a lot don't you?" She smiled at her own comment and noticed a small paper in his right hand over his chest. She unfolded the crumpled piece of paper with the impound information on the front. On the back was Richard's messy hand writing:

_Cut brake lines – on purpose…Murder?? Indent on dash MUST GO TO LAKE!_

Her smile faded as she dropped the paper back onto Richard's chest. She covered her mouth with her hand to prevent a sob and walked out of the room into her own. There she cried with her knees up to her chest, the dam of emotions finally breaking and flooding her completely. "Okay Richard. I'll take you to the lake, just find Roy's killer okay?" She asked the air, aware that he was in the other room. She walked out to the living room, her head hung low. Kori placed a blanket over Richard and slouched into the recliner. She picked up a school ring belonging to Rich and fumbled around with it. Forgetting it was Richard's and not Roy's, she placed it in her pocket and fell asleep in the chair next to Richard.  
Richard woke up before Kori and noticed her face was a little red streaked from crying the night before. He felt sorry for her and pulled the blanket a little tighter around her to keep her warm from the air conditioners artic fans. That was when an idea hit him.

Kori woke up to the scent of pancakes in the kitchen. She looked over to the couch to find Richard gone and his blanket now over her. A small smile found its way across her face as she thought of him, of all people, cooking. She got up and walked into the kitchen, finding Richard with his head down on the table and a plate of pancakes opposite to him.

"I thought you'd never wake up." He spoke, his voice muffled by his head still on the table. "But I am now. At least I don't have sleep as a number one hobby." Kori sat down in the chair and Richard scooted the plate over to her. "I don't know if they came out right…I didn't dare try my own cooking." She smiled seeing his smile and the empty plate full of crumbs below him. After sitting at the table for a while Kori decided to finally take Richard to the park.  
Kori's blue voltswagon beetle pulled up to the side of the road, just before the bridge. Both of them got out and walked toward the bridge, already noticing the gap in the railing. Richard looked down at the cool waves from over the gap then took off his shirt and ran over to the embankment. Kori just watched as he dove into the water, resurfacing moments later shivering.

"What are you doing? I don't think you're going to find your memory that way." She stated, shivering at the sight of his now blue lips. "And I'm not dragging you out of there again if you drown down there." Richard went under the water and swam down to the bottom, looking for any glimmer in the cloudy water. He had to resurface a few times and go back under until he began to see the glass from the windows on the lake floor. He sifted through the sand, scraping his bare chest and arms off the rocks and slicing his fingers with the little shards of glass. Finally he saw the glimmer of metal in the corner of his eye. A small chain link stuck out of the sand a few inches away from him. He swam over to the area and dug up the silver necklace and key.

Kori tapped her foot lightly with irritation starting to sink in at Richard. A loud splash and gasp of air came from below the bridge. "Richard? What were you doing down there?" Kori asked as she jogged off the bridge and onto the lakes rocks. He walked over to her and held out the necklace and key. Kori stared at him for a second or two. "That's Roy's necklace… How did you know?" He smiled weakly at her and pulled his shirt back on, plopping the necklace in her hand. Kori's face paled as she looked the necklace over, gently stroking it with her fingers like it was a fragile little bird in her palm.

"I'm sorry I'm not Roy or how ever I used to be in the past, but I'm trying my best to be there for you. I know you've been looking for this necklace and just promise me that one day after all this, you won't look into past and think of what could have been, but what could still be." Richard spoke carefully with his hand covering hers with the necklace. Kori let the tears slide down her face as she flung her self onto Richard, burying herself in his chest and the warmth of his arms.

Kori drove Richard to his parent's home; helping him find his way around his own house and staying there until his parents arrived back from their trip. Richard put his hands in his pockets walking around the small 2 floor house. He felt something cold and metal in his pocket. "Please don't tell me that's the-" In his open palm lay the small object. "-key…Uggh." Rich quickly threw together a letter to his parents about him leaving, not bothering to tell them himself. He ran down to the light-rail and boarded the small train, impatiently looking around and tapping his foot until the stop for Kori's apartment complex came up. Richard ran up the steps leading to her apartment, ignoring the comments thrown his way from the people he absent mindedly shoved out of his way. Finally her apartment door came into view, and he knocked on the door impatiently.  
The door opened to Kori, who mouthed a 'thank you' to him as he handed her the key, and let him inside. There on the leather couch sat another guy with musty brown hair and green eyes that bored into Richard. "Rich, this is Xavier. You wouldn't remember this but he was in your auto-body repair shop class in Votech and in like 3 of my other classes at school." Richard sized up the man who stood up and his heart stopped when he saw Xavier's left arm. An iris was tattooed onto his forearm. _'Brake Lines'_ Roy's message came back to him and Xavier seemed to notice what he was looking at.

"It was you." Richard whispered, eyes still on the tattoo. "What?"

"It was you…You cut the brake lines in Roy's car. You wanted us dead." Xavier's face turned red, but he reached into his pocket pulling out a gun. "You weren't supposed to live." Sweat rolled down the side of Xavier's face as he aimed the gun at the defense-less Richard up against the wall. He pulled the trigger, but two shots were heard and both of them fell to the floor. Richard winced in pain as he grabbed at the wound in the side of his abdomen. Xavier was face down on the ground, with Kori standing over top of him, a pistol shaking in her hand. She dropped the gun and ran over to Richard, calling up the ambulance and police. He felt her tears on his face as she held his head in her lap and then he felt nothing where her tears had fallen and the girl faded away.

Rich opened his eyes slowly to the same speckle tiled ceiling as his visit before. "Richard?" Kori's voice called from the door way where she stood in her capris and light blue tank top. She ran over to his bedside, practically throwing herself on him, but careful enough to avoid his wound.

"Thank you Richard." She spoke softly, still clinging onto him.

"Thanks for what?"

"For showing me what could have been." She spoke, holding out the white gold diamond engagement ring in her palm. "And allowing me to let go and see what could be." She spoke letting go of his chest and letting the diamond ring slip through her fingers onto the bed. "For that I thank you…and for those pancakes the other day…" She embraced him again, and planted a small kiss on his forehead. "Thank you so much…I'm gonna have to go now. I'll see you later; I have to go take care of a few things." Kori left the small white room in the hospital just as Richards parents came in. She hopped into her car and drove off to the other end of town. The blue Voltswagon Beetle pulled up into a small cemetery and Kori stepped out to a fresh new grave. She kneeled before the headstone, placing down the key and the engagement ring. "Roy…I miss you a lot, but…I know you'd want me to move on. I'll never forget you. You were a great guy. I'm going to take your place and take care of Richard; I don't think he could take care of himself." Kori chuckled a little at the thought of Richard's cooking and constant sleeping. "He's real different…I actually kind of…like him. He's helped me a lot. If it's okay with you, I think he's gonna be my next 'victim'…I miss you a lot. I wish…I wish that somehow, everything will be okay again. I don't want a broken heart anymore Roy, I have to move on. I'll never forget you." Kori leaned forward and kissed the top of the gravestone; she stood back up and pulled out the school ring from her pocket. Her finger traced over Richards name engraved in the inside. Finally, a smile made its way across her face and Kori hopped back into her car, to go back to the hospital.

* * *

Thanks!!! Dont forget to review and such!!

HAVE A COOKIE!!! they're chocolate chip. yummmm.  
-Shadowsofhope


End file.
